Safety gate hook

ABSTRACT

A safety gate hook includes a hook having a hook-shaped front end for hooking onto a wire staple of a staple plate and having a safety-latching dog pivotally mounted on the front end of the hook. The latching dog extends under the staple when the hook is hooked thereon to prevent a spurious upwardly directed force from unhooking the hook from the staple.

11in ties 1' I 1 3,594,030

[72] Inventor Rielhnrd M. Pnetz 974,566 11/1910 Giles 292/108 X Sterling, 111. 1,440,949 1/1923 Aldrich et a1. 292/285 [2]] Appl. N0 773,747 1,868.693 7/1932 Capra 292/108 [22] Filed Nov. 6, 1960 2,470,706 5/1949 Larson 292/108 [45] Patented July 20, 11971 FOREIGN TS Awgm g m Mwmmm'mg 393,718 6/1933 Great Britain 292/108 terhng, 111.

Primary ExaminerM1arvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe 1 1 SAFETY GATE HUG/1K Attorney-Fidler, Bradley, Patnaude & Lazo 3 Cinims, & Drawing Figs.

[52] US. C1 292/108, 292/210, 292/285 [51] 11n1.C1 1105c 19/12 ABSTRACT; A safety gate hook i l d a h k h i g a [50] Field of Smrdh 292/95, hoohshaped from end f hooking 0mm a wire staple f a 285 p1e plate and having a safety-latching dog pivotally mounted 56] References Cited on the front end of the hook. The latching dog extends under the staple when the hook is hooked thereon to prevent a spur1- UNITED STATES PATENTS ous upwardly directed force from unhooking the hook from 842,970 2/1907 Parsons the staple.

PATENTED JULZOIHYI 35941030 INVENTOP RICHARD K. PAETZ djhltldt) This invention relates to safety gate hoohs, t til it more particularly relates to a gate hoot; which is nsed t staple plate or the lilte to latch a gate or a door and r it cannot be accidentally bumped or jarred out of engagement with the staple by a spurious upwardly force, such a force produced by an animal humping or butting the latch.

An ordinary gate hoolr latch, which includes a hoot. and a staple plate or screw e ye, is not cntir iy suitable for some purposes, such as for the purpose til late b gate which closes a cattle pen. The came or other animals confined in the pen are frequently able to force the latch open by accidentally bumping or jarring it. Therefore, in an attempt to overcome this problem, different types gate hooks have been used. One type of safety gate includes a pivotnlly mounted clip and a spring which on s thi ,lip against the end portion of the hool; to retain the hoolt in e gagernent with a st nple of a staple plate or screw eye. l-lowcvcr, by e' rting on the hoolt an up wardly directed force which nth cient to overcome the spring tension ererted on the clip, an animal can force the hook out of engagement with the staple. liloreover, this type of hoolr cannot he easily and cynic y used to hoot; onto the staple plate since the clip must l end portion of the hoot: against the for cc at it Therefore, it is the principal object of the to provide a new and improved cty hoolt.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety gate hoolr which cannot be kitli'lltlill'llfil unhoolicd by animals or i'iurnans and which is easily and till v operated.

lBllllElF IEtlESlIlilllTlUll Oil ll iiiidltifl iill Briefly, the above and further objects of t tion may be realized by providing it be hoolred onto a staple of a staple pl has a pivotally mounted safety latchii extends under the staple in a latching is hooked on the staple to retain the st and the latching dog. in order to automatically latch the hook to the staple, the latching dog irnsent invenis adapted to or the hire and which latching dog en the llUUlii ercon. Due g dog, the

hoot: is held above the staph and ti to the location of the center o latching dog returns to its in The invention, both to i or, operation, together with thereof will best be undt detailed a tages e to the following th thii accompany mg sheet of di awt gs, wit to:

lF'lG. ii is a elcvational vie o hooh cm bodying the principles of the pro corrected to a staple plate for latching gate to a closed position;

FlG. fl is a fragmentary elm/at hook of HG. ll, illustrating the hooh in it onto the staple;

H6. 33 is a view of a layout of the salary latching dog of the gate hook of hi6. l; and

HG. i is a front elevational view of the latching dog of the gate hook of HG. l.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. ll thereof, there is shown a safety gate hook ill which embodies the present invention and which is swingably fastened to a gate 112 and hooked through a U-shaped staple l5 extend mg from a staple plate M which is adapted to be fastened to a gate post to by wood screws or the like. The gate hook 10 generally comprises a wire hook ill having a safety latching dog .Zl'l plvotally mounted on the hook to retain it in a latched position on the staple lid, The hook ill has an intermediate shank portion 22 and a hook-shaped forward end portion 2 t. A rear end portion Llti of the hook member lid is formed into an eye which is linked with and loosely engages the staple ofa staple plate 1th. The plate is adapted to be fastened to the gate ill by means of wood screws or the lilac. The latching dog Iltl is generally ill-shaped, as best shown in lFlG. i, and fits over the forward end portion E l of the hoolr llh. The side portions of the latching dog 2% are formed into latch portions 3i and 33. When the hook is in a locking position as shown in FIG. l, the latch portions T l and Elli extend under the staple l5 to prevent a spurious upwardly directed force from unhooking the hook ill from the staple l5.

@onsidering now the latching dog Ed in greater detail with reference to the drawings, the latching dog 20 may be a sheet metal stamping in the shape as shown in layout form in FIG. 3. When folded into its completed form as shown in H6. i, the latching dog 2th is generally ll-shaped and includes a web 37 forming a protective cover which protects the pivotal connection between the hoolr and the latching dog 2113 from the elements. The latching dog Ell further includes a pair of depending side flange portions 39 and ll which include the latching portions Ill and 33, respectively. As shown in FIG. l, the latch portions ill and Illl include a pair of notches Ella and respectively, which is disposed under the staple l5 in a latching position and are adapted to receive the staple 15. As shown in lFilJS. l and Ll, the notches Ella and 33a are substantially larger than the diameter of wire of which the staple i5 is formed so that the gate hook ill can be used with various diffcrent sizes of wire for the staple or screw eye.

A pair of holes M and M are drilled or punched in the respective side portions 1J9 and all to receive a rivet 47, or the lilie, which extends through the holes 43 and d5 and an aligned hole (not shown) in the front end portion 2d of the hoot: The head of the rivet ll' is shown in llGS. l and 2 of the drawings, and the back end of the rivet i7 is staked. For the purpose of readily accommodating the latching dog 20 and to facilitate drilling the hole in the hook lid for the rivet t7, the front end portion ltd includes a pair of flats on the opposite sides thereof. in order to prevent the rivet t? from rusting or corroding, the rivet is preferably composed of a nonferrous metal, such as brass, which permits the latching dog to pivot more quickly and smoothly with long lasting dependability.

As shown in Flt}. l, the rivet dl about which the latching dog fill pivots is disposed near the web portion El? toward the front of the latching dog llll and above the staple l5 when the hook lid is hooked through the staple lid. As shown in H0. l, the rivet llli is disposed forwardly of the leg of the staple 115 so that the latch portions ill and lid extend under the staple 15 in the latched position with a pair of upwardly extending finger portions Illlh and 3% of the respective latch portions 311 and 335 being disposed forwardly of the surface of the staple 115 which is engaged by the hook th. A tab l-h extends from the rear portion of the web Ill and is bent downwardly at an angle relative thereto to provide an abutment or stop member for the latching dog its a result, after pivoting the latching dog Elli in a counterclockwise direction as seen in H6. l to permit the hook ill to be hoolred onto the staple lid, the latching dog 2% pivots in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. it under the force of gravity until the tab ill contacts the front end portion 2d of the hook til. it forward edge 5i of the web portion 37 serves as an abutment or stop member to limit the counterclockwise pivotal movement of the latching dog Ztl to control the opening thereof.

The latching dog Bill of the safety gate hook lib automatically moves into the latching position by merely holding the front end portion 2d of the hook id over the staple id and then dropping the hook ill. As shown in FIG. 2, in order to automatically open the latching dog 20 in permit the hook R8 to be hooked onto he staple llSv the latching dog 20 includes a pair of cam surfaces 53 and 55 on the leading edges of its respective side portions 39 and M. For the purpose of hooking the book 18 onto the staple E5, the forward end portion 24 is slipped over the staple l and is slid downwardly therealong. As the end portion 24 moves downwardly, the staple engages the cam surfaces 53 and 55 to cam the latching dog in a counterclockwise direction as seen in WC. 2 to permit the hook 18 to be hooked onto the staple llSr After the end portion 24 moves into hooking engagement with the staple 15, the latching dog 20 pivots in a clockwise direction under the force of gravity into its latching position as shown in FIG. 11.

A pair of rearwardly facing cam surfaces 57 and 5'9 on the respective side portions 39 and all tend to deflect a relatively large object, such as the nose of an animal, to prevent it from unhooking the hook 18 Should the object continue in an upward direction, the object moves the latching dog 20 and the hook 18 in an upward direction until the notches 31a and 33a of the latch portions 31 and 33 engage the underside of the staple 15 to positively lock the latching dog 20 on the staple 15. In order to prevent a relatively large object from moving the latching dog 20 out of its latching position, as shown in FIG. 1, the apexes 62 and 6 at the lowermost edges of the side portions 39 and 41, where the cam surfaces 53 and 55 meet their respective cam surfaces 5'7 and 59, are disposed at a relatively short distance away from adjacent portions of the hook-shaped front end portion 24, and the front end portion 24 extends below the apexes 62 and 64", by a relatively long distance so that the object is prevented from contacting cam surfaces 53 and 55. However, the tab 49 is bent at an angle to adjust the position of the latching dog 20 relative to the hook 18 such that the staple H5 is able to Contact the cam surfaces 53 and 55 to cam the latching dog 2t into an open position upon hooking the hook 118 onto the staple 35. For the purpose of positioning the apexcs 62 and 64 of the latching dog it) as close as possible to the adjacent portion of the front end portion 24 and still permit the staple 15 to automatically open the latching dog 20, the tab 49 is bent at an angle relative to the web 37 to position the apexes s2 and 64 such that upon hooking the hook 18 onto the staple R5, the apexes first contact the staple at a critical distance away from the front end portion 24. The critical distance is slightly greater than the radius of the staple 15. In order to use the gate hook Fill with different sizes of wire for the staple 15, the tab 4'9 is bent to adjust the position of the latching dog 213 relative to the hook iii in accordance with the above-mentioned critical distance for a given staple.

The hook 28 can be readily unhoohed from the staple i5 by merely pivoting the latching dog 29 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. l and then slipping the hook 118 out of engagement with the staple l5.

While the present invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

lclaim:

l A safety gate hook adapted for use with a wire staple or the like, comprising a hook member having its rear end adapted to be swingable mounted and having a hook-shaped front end provided with a staple-engageable surface, and

a generally U-shaped latching dog pivotally connected to said hook member and disposed over said hook-shaped front end portion thereof, said latching dog including a web forming a protective cover over the pivotal connection between the hook member and the latching dog, and a pair of depending side flange portions disposed on opposite sides of said hook member and having a latch ortion, said latching dog being pivotable between a late ing position where the latch portion is disposed under said staple-engageable surface to retain said staple between said latch portion and said hook member, and an open position where said latch portion is disposed away from said staple-engageable surface to permit said staple to enter the hook portion of said hook member, and wherein each one of said side flange portions includes a forwardly facing cam surface and a rearwardly facing cam surface,

said cam surfaces meeting at an apex point, said apex point being rearwardly spaced from the adjacent portions of said hook-shaped front end by a distance slightly greater than the radius of the wire of which the staple is fonned when said latching dog is in a latching position, whereby said forward facing cam surface is adapted to engage said staple to cause said latch portion to pivot away from its latching to its open position when said hood member is moved into engagement with said staple, and said rearward facing cam surface is adapted to cause said latching dog to pivot to a locking position in engagement with said staple in response to an upwardly directed spurious force thereon.

2. A safety gate hook according to claim 1, wherein said latching dog further includes an integral, bendable tab extending from said web for engaging said hook member to position said latching dog in a predetermined position relative to said hook member when said latching dog is in its latching position.

3. A safety gate'hook according to claim 1, wherein said latching dog is biased under the force of latching position.

gravity into its 

1. A safety gate hook adapted for use with a wire staple or the like, comprising a hook member having its rear end adapted to be swingable mounted and having a hook-shaped front end provided with a staple-engageable surface, and a generally U-shaped latching dog pivotally connected to said hook member and disposed over said hook-shaped front end portion thereof, said latching dog including a web forming a protective cover over the pivotal connection between the hook member and the latching dog, and a pair of depending side flange portions disposed on opposite sides of said hook member and having a latch portion, said latching dog being pivotable between a latching position where the latch portion is disposed under said staple-engageable surface to retain said staple between said latch portion and said hook member, and an open position where said latch portion is disposed away from said staple-engageable surface to permit said staple to enter the hook portion of said hook member, and wherein each one of said side flange portions includes a forwardly facing cam surface and a rearwardly facing cam surface, said cam surfaces meeting at an apex point, said apex point being rearwardly spaced from the adjacent portions of said hook-shaped front end by a distance slightly greater than the radius of the wire of which the staple is formed when said latching dog is in a latching position, whereby said forward facing cam surface is adapted to engage said staple to cause said latch portion to pivot away from its latching to its open position when said hood member is moved into engagement with said staple, and said rearward facing cam surface is adapted to cause said latching dog to pivot to a locking position in engagement with said staple in response to an upwardly directed spurious force thereon.
 2. A safety gate hook according to claim 1, wherein said latching dog further includes an integral, bendable tab extending from said web for engaging said hook member to position said latching dog in a predetermined position relative to said hook member when said latching dog is in its latching position.
 3. A safety gate hook according to claim 1, wherein said latching dog is biased under the force of gravity into its latching position. 